The biggest financial news of the day was not carried by the Wall Street Journal, CNBC or Bloomberg (over the air, at least), but by German newspaper Handelsblatt (in German) and initially picked up by GATA and, naturally, ZeroHedge.
After months of pressuring from the public, the report tells of how the German Bundesbank is planning to repatriate much of its gold reserves, of which only 31% is held in Germany.
The New York Federal Reserve holds 45% of Germany’s gold reserves. The Bank of England and the Bank of France hold 13% and 11% each, respectively.
These arrangements date back to the 1950s, when Germany was split into East and West countries, as a precaution, but, since Germany has been whole for some time now, the government believes it is prudent to bring most of the reserves home.
Though details have yet to emerge, the plan calls for repatriation of all gold from France, since there would be no forex advantage, both countries under the regime of the same currency, the Euro. Estimates are that the Germans will kindly ask the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England for most of their reserves, especially after President Obama intoned yesterday that America is not a "deadbeat nation" (we are).
Nitwit traders on Wall Street scarcely understand the importance of this gesture by the Germans. They have (or think they have) the second largest hoard of gold in the world; only the USA has more in actual, physical reserves.
Germany may also be concerned that all of their gold is not where it is supposed to be or has claims against it, as central banks have played fast and loose with gold over the years, often leasing it out on speculation. There's also a fear that some of the gold bars may actually be counterfeit. A number of tungsten-filled bars have been showing up in odd places of late.
One cannot reasonably blame the Germans for wanting a full, accurate accounting of their owned wealth and to have it in their possession. This is a huge development, signaling that Germany, the strongest country in the EU, may be planning to disengage from the Euro and reinstitute and re-establish the Deutschemark as their official currency.
In such a case, nations like Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal and pretty much the entire Eurozone nations would be toast and the game of international currency debasement would enter a new, dizzying phase with unknown consequences.
Stay tuned on this one.
As reported here yesterday, the NASDAQ index was holding onto a five-point gain since the huge 92-point ramp-up January 2nd, and today finished below that threshold. As of the close today, the NASDAQ is down one point and change. So, if you missed the move on the NAZ on January 2nd, you're down for the year so far. Too bad.
Amazing. With the Fed pumping in $85 billion a month with daily POMOs and all the MBS available, they still can't put together a decent gain? Curious. All this money seems to be going into a black hole.
Reporter and editor of this blog, Fearless Rick (yeah, that guy over there on the duvet having a beer) has coined a new term which he believes covers about 75% for the American population: SLEEPLE, defined as people who look and act like they're awake, but are actually sleeping.
Credit due. Per aspera ad astra. Caveat Emptor. ©
BYW: This looks like a good spot to go short just about anything, but especially tech and, among that group, just about anything related to social media.
Dow 13,534.89, +27.57(0.20%)
NASDAQ 3,110.78, -6.72 (0.22%)
S&P 500 1,472.34, +1.66(0.11%)
NYSE Composite 8,733.10, +15.65(0.18%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,852,201,125
NYSE Volume 3,331,416,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3578-2829
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 300-18
WTI crude oil: 93.28, -0.86
Gold: 1,683.90, +14.50
Silver: 31.53, +0.419
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Split Indices, Tight Ranges, Soft January
"As January goes, so goes the year."
This tired line of non-logical thinking gets bantered about every year around this time, but is especially in vogue this year after the huge ramp-up in equities on January 2nd, when fresh bank capital (courtesy of the Fed) flowed into the markets in an effort to lure in retail investors.
It's not working.
Since the biggest gain on the Dow Industrials to start a new year (January 2nd, 2013... this year) stocks have gone, well, not very far. The total gain on the Dow over the past eight sessions, including today, is less than 100 points. Big Hooray!
On the S&P 500, the gain has been a whopping eight points. The NASDAQ? 5.24 points since the massive, 92-point gain of January 2nd.
So, the point is that while CNBC and Bloomberg have been crowing about the huge "inflows" to equity funds, the truth is that there has been a net outflow from equity funds )as it has been for the past two years), and the money-creation-machine known as the Fed and its primary dealers have rigged the market higher (as usual).
Today's bid-less action, including the absurd 60-point top-to-bottom range on the Dow, was driven primarily by a rumor that two private equity firms were interested in doing an LBO on Dell. The story, broken by Bloomberg and without any supporting evidence or data, shot Dell shares through the roof and triggered a circuit-breaking halting trading.
The story was likely pure fabrication, because the markets are so dead right now the algos needed a boost to get the indices off UNCH and got it from the Dell "rumor."
Nothing is moving. Volume on the NASDAQ - despite the Dell joke and Apple (AAPL) being sold down the river - was less than 3 billion shares, an oddity even in this low-volume regime. Nobody is trading - not retail investors, at least - because the fraud and rigging has finally reached a point at which the markets cannot be trusted at all. They are controlled by the same people and companies that brought us the sub-prime mess, resultant crash and the current, fudged "recovery."
Perception being more powerful than reality, there's a very good chance that the major indices could stagnate for the rest of the month and the same talking heads on the financial networks will tell us it's going to be a great year because January was positive.
It's. Not. Working.
Dow 13,507.32, +18.89 (0.14%)
NASDAQ 3,117.50, -8.13 (0.26%)
S&P 500 1,470.68, -1.37 (0.09%)
NYSE Composite 8,717.45, +5.05 (0.06%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,879,408,375
NYSE Volume 2,956,360,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3118-3099
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 370-10 (ridiculous)
WTI crude oil: 94.14, +0.58
Gold: 1,669.40, +8.80
Silver: 31.11, +0.702
This tired line of non-logical thinking gets bantered about every year around this time, but is especially in vogue this year after the huge ramp-up in equities on January 2nd, when fresh bank capital (courtesy of the Fed) flowed into the markets in an effort to lure in retail investors.
It's not working.
Since the biggest gain on the Dow Industrials to start a new year (January 2nd, 2013... this year) stocks have gone, well, not very far. The total gain on the Dow over the past eight sessions, including today, is less than 100 points. Big Hooray!
On the S&P 500, the gain has been a whopping eight points. The NASDAQ? 5.24 points since the massive, 92-point gain of January 2nd.
So, the point is that while CNBC and Bloomberg have been crowing about the huge "inflows" to equity funds, the truth is that there has been a net outflow from equity funds )as it has been for the past two years), and the money-creation-machine known as the Fed and its primary dealers have rigged the market higher (as usual).
Today's bid-less action, including the absurd 60-point top-to-bottom range on the Dow, was driven primarily by a rumor that two private equity firms were interested in doing an LBO on Dell. The story, broken by Bloomberg and without any supporting evidence or data, shot Dell shares through the roof and triggered a circuit-breaking halting trading.
The story was likely pure fabrication, because the markets are so dead right now the algos needed a boost to get the indices off UNCH and got it from the Dell "rumor."
Nothing is moving. Volume on the NASDAQ - despite the Dell joke and Apple (AAPL) being sold down the river - was less than 3 billion shares, an oddity even in this low-volume regime. Nobody is trading - not retail investors, at least - because the fraud and rigging has finally reached a point at which the markets cannot be trusted at all. They are controlled by the same people and companies that brought us the sub-prime mess, resultant crash and the current, fudged "recovery."
Perception being more powerful than reality, there's a very good chance that the major indices could stagnate for the rest of the month and the same talking heads on the financial networks will tell us it's going to be a great year because January was positive.
It's. Not. Working.
Dow 13,507.32, +18.89 (0.14%)
NASDAQ 3,117.50, -8.13 (0.26%)
S&P 500 1,470.68, -1.37 (0.09%)
NYSE Composite 8,717.45, +5.05 (0.06%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,879,408,375
NYSE Volume 2,956,360,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3118-3099
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 370-10 (ridiculous)
WTI crude oil: 94.14, +0.58
Gold: 1,669.40, +8.80
Silver: 31.11, +0.702
Friday, January 11, 2013
Markets Flat
FLAT.
Low Volume.
Move on.
Dow 13,488.43, +17.21(0.13%)
NASDAQ 3,125.63, +3.87(0.12%)
S&P 500 1,472.05, -0.07 (0.00%)
NYSE Composite 8,712.37, +1.39 (0.02%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,746,010,000
NYSE Volume 3,550,726,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3221-3162
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 382-15
WTI crude oil: 93.56, -0.26
Gold: 1,660.60, -17.40
Silver: 30.41, -0.51
Low Volume.
Move on.
Dow 13,488.43, +17.21(0.13%)
NASDAQ 3,125.63, +3.87(0.12%)
S&P 500 1,472.05, -0.07 (0.00%)
NYSE Composite 8,712.37, +1.39 (0.02%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,746,010,000
NYSE Volume 3,550,726,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3221-3162
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 382-15
WTI crude oil: 93.56, -0.26
Gold: 1,660.60, -17.40
Silver: 30.41, -0.51
Thursday, January 10, 2013
According to Wall Street, Humans are Fodder
As I was watching CNBC just minutes ago, as reporter Mary Thompson ticked off details of American Express' (AXP) 4th quarter earnings report, a chart beside her showed the sock gaining in after hour trading just as she announced that the firm would initiate a restructuring involving 5400 job cuts.
The image of the stock going up while people were about to lose their jobs brought home (once again, because this is not the first time) the tragic nature of Wall Street and their glorified love of profits at any cost, even human cost.
Living through the past four years of abject financial repression, first, by banks, then by government, now, by multi-national corporations, the level of moral bankruptcy by the very people who should be exemplars of good behavior is appalling and completely unacceptable.
When people lose jobs and stocks increase in value, it displays not only a shallow disregard for humanity, but almost a depraved indifference to human suffering. Handing out pink slips at corporations has become a routine carried out by more underlings, those "investor types" never having to face a wife or husband who has lost a job when prospects for finding another are so slim.
Of course, from a purely financial perspective, cutting labor costs is wise, but, in the end, elimination of productive labor is wanton, greedy, selfish and eventually self-defeating.
To the corporations and to government, people (mostly working people) are expendable, fodder, chattel, just random numbers to add or eliminate from spreadsheets, profit and loss statements and earnings reports. Rewarding corporations for shedding employees is so distasteful on the surface that one wonders just what parallel universe it is in which those of the rentier class reside.
For every dollar they make in profits, another human being is degraded, shunned, discarded, and, what the investors fail to realize is that without the fruits of human labor - and their spending - the corporations would have no customers. None. Zero. They would be bankrupt and cease to exist and this is exactly the path we have embarked upon though the insanity of centrally-planned money and interest rate policy, banking without rules, corporations with enormous advantages over all competitors and a world reduced to ones and zeroes in a computational fantasy land.
And what a fantasy world it is. Money is created out of thin air, shoveled directly to 10 or 12 money center banks and put to work hiking up prices of stocks. Yes, Virginia, the rich do get richer and the poor poorer, but it is the middle class, like those 5400 American Express employees who are about to lose their jobs who suffer the worst.
Loss of income, self-esteem and personal worth are immeasurable and difficult to replace. The unemployment statistics cited by the government, and ignored by Wall Street, paint a very bleak picture of America in the 21st century. While we are the most technologically-advanced nation in the history of the world, nearly half the population is either collecting some form of government assistance or is about to.
Our business and political leaders have led us down a primrose path to destruction, one upon which they profit every step of the way, but, if there is any justice in the world left, it is the hope that when all the employees are laid off, when all the factories and store fronts and job sites are empty, idle and wasted, that the market will crash, taking down the entire apparatus of Wall Street, the oligarchs and politicians and bankers with it.
Maybe then, finally, people will understand human beings are not fodder, that labor, as defined by none other than Adam Smith, the great economist upon which all of economics is based, is the basis of all wealth, of all money, of all that can be achieved.
Maybe. But it will take a catastrophe - or maybe a hundred thousand catastrophes - for the knowledge to find a home.
Dow 13,471.22, +80.71(0.60%)
NASDAQ 3,121.76, +15.95(0.51%)
S&P 500 1,472.12, +11.10(0.76%)
NYSE Composite 8,713.75, +77.66(0.90%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,753,614,375
NYSE Volume 4,318,613,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4102-2323
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 458-15
WTI crude oil: 94.00, +0.90
Gold: 1,678.00, +22.50
Silver: 30.92, +0.669
The image of the stock going up while people were about to lose their jobs brought home (once again, because this is not the first time) the tragic nature of Wall Street and their glorified love of profits at any cost, even human cost.
Living through the past four years of abject financial repression, first, by banks, then by government, now, by multi-national corporations, the level of moral bankruptcy by the very people who should be exemplars of good behavior is appalling and completely unacceptable.
When people lose jobs and stocks increase in value, it displays not only a shallow disregard for humanity, but almost a depraved indifference to human suffering. Handing out pink slips at corporations has become a routine carried out by more underlings, those "investor types" never having to face a wife or husband who has lost a job when prospects for finding another are so slim.
Of course, from a purely financial perspective, cutting labor costs is wise, but, in the end, elimination of productive labor is wanton, greedy, selfish and eventually self-defeating.
To the corporations and to government, people (mostly working people) are expendable, fodder, chattel, just random numbers to add or eliminate from spreadsheets, profit and loss statements and earnings reports. Rewarding corporations for shedding employees is so distasteful on the surface that one wonders just what parallel universe it is in which those of the rentier class reside.
For every dollar they make in profits, another human being is degraded, shunned, discarded, and, what the investors fail to realize is that without the fruits of human labor - and their spending - the corporations would have no customers. None. Zero. They would be bankrupt and cease to exist and this is exactly the path we have embarked upon though the insanity of centrally-planned money and interest rate policy, banking without rules, corporations with enormous advantages over all competitors and a world reduced to ones and zeroes in a computational fantasy land.
And what a fantasy world it is. Money is created out of thin air, shoveled directly to 10 or 12 money center banks and put to work hiking up prices of stocks. Yes, Virginia, the rich do get richer and the poor poorer, but it is the middle class, like those 5400 American Express employees who are about to lose their jobs who suffer the worst.
Loss of income, self-esteem and personal worth are immeasurable and difficult to replace. The unemployment statistics cited by the government, and ignored by Wall Street, paint a very bleak picture of America in the 21st century. While we are the most technologically-advanced nation in the history of the world, nearly half the population is either collecting some form of government assistance or is about to.
Our business and political leaders have led us down a primrose path to destruction, one upon which they profit every step of the way, but, if there is any justice in the world left, it is the hope that when all the employees are laid off, when all the factories and store fronts and job sites are empty, idle and wasted, that the market will crash, taking down the entire apparatus of Wall Street, the oligarchs and politicians and bankers with it.
Maybe then, finally, people will understand human beings are not fodder, that labor, as defined by none other than Adam Smith, the great economist upon which all of economics is based, is the basis of all wealth, of all money, of all that can be achieved.
Maybe. But it will take a catastrophe - or maybe a hundred thousand catastrophes - for the knowledge to find a home.
Dow 13,471.22, +80.71(0.60%)
NASDAQ 3,121.76, +15.95(0.51%)
S&P 500 1,472.12, +11.10(0.76%)
NYSE Composite 8,713.75, +77.66(0.90%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,753,614,375
NYSE Volume 4,318,613,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4102-2323
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 458-15
WTI crude oil: 94.00, +0.90
Gold: 1,678.00, +22.50
Silver: 30.92, +0.669
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
POMO Is Back; Obama Considering Executive Order on Gun Control
There wasn't much happening on stock markets today other than the constancy of computers trading with other computers, but there was excitement on the political front, including a rabble-rousing utterance (intentional or otherwise) from the foot-in-mouth VP, Joe Biden, who dropped a hint that the president was considering using an executive order to somehow effect more rigid gun control.
This got gun-holders and freedom-lovers of all stripes worked up into a hot lather, as just the mere perception that the second amendment might be somehow circumvented by the totalitarian-in-chief was cause for calls of rebellion, secession and other assorted ranting and raving.
In America, the Founders designed the second amendment, which reads,
The current debate over gun ownership, caused in large part by the mass murder in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, and now widely propagated by the left-leaning media, is just another attempt by a government that has outgrown its usefulness to further infringe upon the rights of the citizenry. The thought that President Obama might go the executive order route is almost ludicrous, considering the potential downside and difficulties (I'm being kind here) in implementing any kind of weapons ban would entail.
It's time the American public knew the truth. The kid at Sandy Hook and the moron who shot up the theater in Colorado were both on psychotropic drugs of some kind - Prozac, Ritalin, or any of a dozen others - that cause a few individuals to do insane things. If there's any sense at all left in Washington (there isn't), there should be a law that anyone who has ever taken any of these medications or been under the care of a psychiatrist (obviously, the author has done neither) should ever be able to own a firearm.
Now, not to sound cynical, but such a ban would never even get a hearing in DC, simply because the drugs in question are manufactured by one of the big pharmaceutical companies, and they pay plenty in graft and hush money (AKA: campaign contributions) that any senator or house member proposing such a deal would be laughed out of town.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is back doing POMO (Permanent Open Market Operations) in earnest, today actually buying up $300 million worth of 30-year bonds that hadn't even been issued!!!! (Note, four exclamation points means this is really exciting.)
The Fed has POMOs set up for every day the markets are open this month except January 30.
While $300 million is a piddling amount, let's not forget that the Fed Chairman, Mr. Bernanke, has explicitly said he would not monetize the debt, which is exactly what he's been doing for the past four years, but this move, grabbing up the auction before it's even available, can only mean one thing: somebody (read: the federal government) needed money in a hurry and couldn't wait until tomorrow.
Yes, our slick Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, who has not received nearly the amount of press he deserves, has been employing extraordinary measures to keep the country from defaulting on its obligations since January 1, and maybe he ran into a little snag. In any case, even with the soon-to-be-departed Mr. Geithner pulling all the strings he can, the government will run out of money and options on February 15, if not sooner. So why are people all lathered up about gun control when the entire government is about to implode in about a month?
Yeah, really.
As for the stock markets, the Dow was up 61 points today, after losing 55 yesterday and 50 the day before. Is there a pattern emerging? Yes, and it's called the sideways two-step. Its a delicate dance that encourages partners to go nowhere, slowly.
Dow 13,390.51, +61.66 (0.46%)
NASDAQ 3,105.81, +14.00 (0.45%)
S&P 500 1,461.02, +3.87 (0.27%)
NYSE Composite 8,636.10, +31.71 (0.37%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,731,655,000
NYSE Volume 3,857,859,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3337-2113
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 426-9 (amazing!)
WTI crude oil: 93.10, -0.05
Gold: 1,655.50, -6.70
Silver: 30.25, -0.216
This got gun-holders and freedom-lovers of all stripes worked up into a hot lather, as just the mere perception that the second amendment might be somehow circumvented by the totalitarian-in-chief was cause for calls of rebellion, secession and other assorted ranting and raving.
In America, the Founders designed the second amendment, which reads,
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.was designed specifically to keep potential tyrants from having thoughts of subjugating the masses and to protect the nation as a whole. The supposed threat of being shot at from all sides by a well-armed citizenry is the final protection of our liberties, and, since the Constitution has been trampled upon pretty severely over the past 236 years (but mostly in the last 12), people have every right to be alarmed and angry.
The current debate over gun ownership, caused in large part by the mass murder in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, and now widely propagated by the left-leaning media, is just another attempt by a government that has outgrown its usefulness to further infringe upon the rights of the citizenry. The thought that President Obama might go the executive order route is almost ludicrous, considering the potential downside and difficulties (I'm being kind here) in implementing any kind of weapons ban would entail.
It's time the American public knew the truth. The kid at Sandy Hook and the moron who shot up the theater in Colorado were both on psychotropic drugs of some kind - Prozac, Ritalin, or any of a dozen others - that cause a few individuals to do insane things. If there's any sense at all left in Washington (there isn't), there should be a law that anyone who has ever taken any of these medications or been under the care of a psychiatrist (obviously, the author has done neither) should ever be able to own a firearm.
Now, not to sound cynical, but such a ban would never even get a hearing in DC, simply because the drugs in question are manufactured by one of the big pharmaceutical companies, and they pay plenty in graft and hush money (AKA: campaign contributions) that any senator or house member proposing such a deal would be laughed out of town.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is back doing POMO (Permanent Open Market Operations) in earnest, today actually buying up $300 million worth of 30-year bonds that hadn't even been issued!!!! (Note, four exclamation points means this is really exciting.)
The Fed has POMOs set up for every day the markets are open this month except January 30.
While $300 million is a piddling amount, let's not forget that the Fed Chairman, Mr. Bernanke, has explicitly said he would not monetize the debt, which is exactly what he's been doing for the past four years, but this move, grabbing up the auction before it's even available, can only mean one thing: somebody (read: the federal government) needed money in a hurry and couldn't wait until tomorrow.
Yes, our slick Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, who has not received nearly the amount of press he deserves, has been employing extraordinary measures to keep the country from defaulting on its obligations since January 1, and maybe he ran into a little snag. In any case, even with the soon-to-be-departed Mr. Geithner pulling all the strings he can, the government will run out of money and options on February 15, if not sooner. So why are people all lathered up about gun control when the entire government is about to implode in about a month?
Yeah, really.
As for the stock markets, the Dow was up 61 points today, after losing 55 yesterday and 50 the day before. Is there a pattern emerging? Yes, and it's called the sideways two-step. Its a delicate dance that encourages partners to go nowhere, slowly.
Dow 13,390.51, +61.66 (0.46%)
NASDAQ 3,105.81, +14.00 (0.45%)
S&P 500 1,461.02, +3.87 (0.27%)
NYSE Composite 8,636.10, +31.71 (0.37%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,731,655,000
NYSE Volume 3,857,859,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3337-2113
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 426-9 (amazing!)
WTI crude oil: 93.10, -0.05
Gold: 1,655.50, -6.70
Silver: 30.25, -0.216
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